A Lockdown Murder

By Mary Sawyer

Stella Page faces another challenge as principal of a middle school in a small town in New Brunswick Canada. A body found in the school during a lockdown sets up friend and foe alike. Faced with an unreachable boss and an insolent staff member she has to work with Detective Kate Barthorpe and Constable Jack Rogers to find the killer. Facing true evil takes Stella to the edge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary Sawyer
• Release date: Jun 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201384647

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Julie had no idea her world could become so dark. Her mind had seemed to rest outside of her body ever since she had received the news. She had continued to go to work and to talk to her friends and family. The words she used were the usual banal words one speaks when life is good, but they were not the words she wanted to say or scream in people's faces so they would know what had happened to her. It was as if someone else inhabited her body and mind, talking for her.

Now she had something she could do to keep Josh's dream alive. Her head felt feverish as she pulled the canvas bag from her closet floor. Alex was going to take it from her and use the money it held to finish what he and Josh had dreamed of doing.

A sob rose up in her throat when she put the bag across her shoulder. Stifling the urge to drop down, curl up on her bedroom floor and sob; Julie took her keys off the dresser and her purse from the hook by the door as she did every day. This is normal life. Keep thinking about it being an ordinary day, not one of the worst days of my life.

Alex was supposed to meet her at Tim Hortons coffee shop at the Canex at nine a. m. She would be there, waiting for him. A photo of Alex with his arm around Josh was on her phone and she would use that to identify him. Looking again at Josh with his arm around his best friend almost stopped her from going anywhere. This was the part where the pain would be so sharp in her chest she would have to bend over to try to relieve it. Not now — there would be no giving in to the pain until after she gave the bag to Alex.

Tim Hortons was quiet and Julie was able to get a table by the window overlooking the parking lot. She ordered a cranberry tea and took it to her table while she checked her phone for the time. It read 8:44.

A car wheeled into the parking lot going much too fast. Her fingers were numb when she tried to scroll to the photo. It came up on her second try, in time for her to look up and see the car stop with a screech of tires. A military police cruiser squealed to a stop right behind the car.

Julie's stomach clenched as she watched. Please don't let this be Alex. Please.

The MP got out and went up to the driver's side of the other car, where the driver sat unmoving. Julie could not hear what the military policeman was saying, but the window in the other car rolled down. The MP stepped back and the man got out of the car. He turned and looked right at the window where Julie was sitting.

It 's Alex! Can he see me sitting here?

His head was bleeding, and Julie saw him put his hand up to his forehead after the MP said something to him. Holding the paper cup tightly, Julie pushed the sides in until the hot tea splashed onto her hand. She dropped the cup, spilling the tea across the top of the table. She quickly grabbed a napkin and tried sopping it up. This was not what she wanted to be doing right now. She picked up the bag and her purse. The tea was not going to get mopped up by her. She looked out the window and saw Alex getting into the backseat of the MP's car.

Damn, damn, don't go.

Julie left the coffee shop and headed to her car. Standing by the driver's side she watched the MP's cruiser turn right out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

The MP could be taking him to the emergency room to get his head looked at. He must have had an accident.

Julie got into her car and started up the street behind the police car, watching as it turned into the hospital parking lot.

OK, he is getting his head looked at. Good, I can still give him the bag.

Julie sat in her car waiting, hoping Alex would come out soon. She turned the radio on to listen to some music. Music would normally relax her when she was waiting, but it was not working for her today. She turned the radio off putting her head back, breathing deeply.

After fifteen minutes her whole body seemed to spasm with the urge to do something. Grabbing the bag from the passenger seat she got out of her car and went into the emergency room. It was not as busy as some days although half the seats were full. The room was quiet as people waited their turn with magazines or phones to keep them occupied. A few were sitting with their heads back against the wall, looking too sick to do anything.

Alex came back in to the waiting room with a nurse, his head bandaged. He looked at Julie at the same time that she saw him. She moved towards him as he came up to her.

Her hand reached up to her shoulder to take the bag's strap.

Don't give me the bag. Alex hissed. His forehead was so close to hers that she could feel his bandage touching her forehead.

Her eyes were locked onto his face, but he was looking over her shoulder, avoiding her eyes.

But I have to. You're supposed to have this.

No, not now. Alex held her arm so she could not move the strap.

Had the blow on the head made him act weird like this? He has to take this bag. I can't keep it. I can't.

Julie's eyes filled with tears. I can't, she said out loud to him. She could smell alcohol on his breath as he held her. He was not looking at her eyes so she sought out someone else's. Her eyes met the nurse's gaze, the one who had brought Alex back to the waiting room. She looked concerned. The MP who had brought Alex got up from his seat at the same time.

Alex suddenly let go of her arm. She pushed him away and ran out of the emergency room.

She reached her car, opened it with her keys, and threw the bag on the passenger seat. Her strength drained out of her and she felt faint. Resting her head on the headrest, she knew she was panicking.

Come on, Josh, tell me what to do. Help me. Her breath was ragged. There was no way she was going to be able to drive. Not yet.

Julie had no idea how long she stayed this way. Not having control of her own emotions was new to her and she had no yardstick for how long it took to bring herself back. No one had died in her family or among her friends before, making her one of the lucky ones. That thought almost brought the sharp pain in her chest. Not now. I have something to finish.

Julie opened her eyes to the sound of squealing tires. Police cars were pulling up at both ends of the street. They had wooden barricades in their trunks. She watched as they set them up in such a way as to block cars from entering or exiting the parking lot.

I can't get out of here. What if they are searching the cars? They'll find the money. I can't explain that much cash in a bag.

Julie watched the emergency room doors, willing Alex to come out, but there was no sign of anyone going in or coming out of the doors of the hospital. She got out of her car with the idea of trying to find somewhere to hide the bag so she could tell Alex where to get it. The parking lot sat on a flat piece of land with no structures close by. If she tried to go to one of the buildings nearby, the police could see her. Her only option was to go up the hill beside the hospital. Her nephew's school sat just above the hospital. She could go there and hide the bag until she could give it to Alex.

Why hasn't Alex come out? Is he hurt more than I thought? He seemed to be really agitated and weird.

Julie grabbed the bag and her purse from the front seat. When she lifted the bag she saw the textbook her nephew Ken had left in her car the day she took him to the dentist.

I'll tell the people at the school that I need to give this to Ken. They'll let me go to his classroom and I'll hide the bag in the school somewhere.

Julie was shivering now from head to toe. Moving as quickly as she could up the hill to the stand of trees helped her adrenalin dissipate. Leaning against a tree she put her hand up to her face to feel tears streaming down her cheeks. They would not stop.

I can't go to the school crying. They won't let me in if I'm crying. Oh Josh, why aren't you here? I need you here with me.

An image of Josh's face appeared to Julie through her tears. He smiled the way he used to when she was climbing the wall or running with him and he could tell she was about to give up. Julie felt her spine stiffen. A calm came over her and she wiped the tears off of her face and walked up the rest of the hill to the school.

I can do this. I can.

CHAPTER ONE

Stella Page could not remember her school ever being this quiet. Edgewater Middle School sits on a ridge overlooking the Saint John River Valley in the town of Milford. The community is a bedroom for the military base. It's a quiet town where not much happens out of the ordinary. It was Friday, almost the end of another week. The March sun was trying to clear the snow away but losing the battle against the chill wind still blowing from the north. The last week of March was the beginning of the end, as everyone liked to say, with only three months left in the school year to get the curriculum covered and the students ready for the next grade. None of that was happening today. The silence in the building was smothering.

Stella turned to Harriet, her secretary, who was standing at the office's only window, peeking through the venetian blind.

Harriet, you are going to wear out the blind.

And you are going to wear out that binder.

Are you as tired of this business as I am right now? Stella stood up from the desk, hoping to stretch the kinks out of her back.

I was fully fed up an hour ago. Harriet moved away from the window to look at Stella. What in God's name is wrong with the District Office? Why hasn't the superintendent called you?

I don't know, Harriet. Stella sighed.

Ever since the RCMP had called to tell her there was a problem at the hospital and to put her school in lockdown she had been waiting for a call from Ed Hoskins.

Doesn't he have to follow protocols in that binder the same as the rest of us? asked Harriet.

Yes, if he's ever read the protocols, Stella said.

He isn't up to much at the best of times anyway. And this mess isn't changing that.

Stella smiled even though she was not amused by what was happening in Edgewater Middle School today. Harriet was as round as she was tall but she was a force to be reckoned with when it came to the school. Stella loved her feistiness. Stella was proud of what her school did for the students and most of the time she could run the place with minimal contact from the superintendent of schools. She would much rather be taking care of this on her own too if she could.

He has no clue what goes on in schools on regular days let alone one like this, Stella said. But this is bad even for him. Stella could leave ethics aside and speak freely with Harriet.

I hope they fire him over this, Harriet snapped.

I'm not counting on that happening either. Right now I would settle for an explanation as to why we have been left on our own for almost three hours.

It must be damn hard for the teachers to be keeping the students quiet and in the classrooms. They deserve a medal, Harriet said. I just hope nothing bad has happened out there.

Let's not get too worked up, Harriet. You're my rock around here and once we get the word to do something I am going to need you to handle the parents when they start calling.

I'm not worked up. I'm mad. Harriet turned back to the window, peering out between the slats in the blind.

There isn't any sign of anyone out front. What is supposed to happen if one of the kids has to go to the bathroom? Can they go? Harriet gave up on the window and sat down at her desk.

No, they can't, Stella, said. The teachers have set something up behind a bookcase or a screen with the wastepaper basket.

Geez, can you imagine how some parents are going to react if their kid has to go in a waste basket?

No, I don't even want to think about it, Stella said. What the hell is this now?

Stella stood up with Harriet right behind her. Harriet grabbed a metre stick off her desk, ready to swing it.

Bob Riley, a grade eight science teacher, was standing in the hallway in front of the office. A woman was standing with him whom Stella did not recognize. Stella went out into the hallway.

What is this, Bob? She did her best to keep her voice steady looking down into Bob's smug face. She stood at five foot eight in her stocking feet and Bob was barely five foot seven. He tried to compensate for his short stature by building up his chest and arms. She had heard him refer to himself as a big guy more than once. This would always get the eyes rolling in the staffroom. Stella thought he looked all upper body and no legs, like a little banty rooster without the charm, an aging banty rooster.

This is Mrs. Ames. She was at the backdoor and she wanted to come in.

You're not supposed to let anyone in the school during a lockdown. That's a serious breach of protocol. Stella drew in a deep breath to keep herself from going for his throat.

"Well, if there's a shooter outside, it isn't safe for her to be out there either. I